Let’s face it, yoga can seem a little strange to some, but the ancient practice from India is the perfect workout for your modern golf game and lifestyle because of the benefits to your core, flexibility, and balance, and the fact that you can do it almost anywhere anytime. It also can help relieve lower back pain, often due to musculature imbalance from playing a one-sided game or due to tightness in the hips, hamstrings, or hip flexors. Another added benefit: Yoga can help improve your focus and concentration. Here are four exercises from the “Golf Yogi,” Mark Williamson, a former mini-tour player who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he gives personal training sessions. “If done on a regular basis at 75 percent effort,” he says, “these stretches will help keep the golf muscles long and fluid and should lead to an increase in range of motion.

With the long days of summer upon us, it’s tempting to play more than 18 holes a day. Your spirit might be up for it, but is your body? In the warm weather, it’s easy to think your muscles are loose but that isn’t necessarily the case, according to Brant Wilson, the Titleist Performance Institute-certified head pro at Carmel Valley Ranch in California.

Aging and the repetitive naturE of golf can lead to joint problems, which can rob you of distance and time on the course, not to mention cause a lot of pain. To protect yourself (and your scores), develop the muscles that surround the joints with exercises that promote mobility.

BY ITS VERY NATURE, golf is an exercise in stress management, from the hazards that line the holes to the pressure of the match to the swing demons in your head and the friends you want to impress. Blissful ignorance is one way to deal with it but that’s easier said than done.